Building a Brick at a Time

This is the time of year where I have shared in the past why a “New Year’s Resolutions”, are a struggle to work and as a society I believe we are transitioning out of this term as well…I am seeing other terms emerging like, “In the Scheme of Things,” “ Looking Back only Holds you Back”, “Mindfulness Matters”, “Living Beautifully”, “Reflecting back to be Better tomorrow”, “Have a Great Year”, “New Year, Fresh Start”, so what does this all really mean?

There is a term from our Best Practices Group, Nexstar, that I share with our Team at Central, BE – DO – HAVE. Making a list of “New Year’s Resolution”, is just a list without commitment, and will never materialize, because you first have to “BE” meaning, you must believe, and then commit, then “DO”, as in DO the work, one day at a time, there are no short cuts to greatness or success, you must first learn how to earn the stripes. As you stay the course, and continue to grow and learn along the way, eventually you will “HAVE”. I personally believe the word “TRY”, should be banned from the English language and should be changed to, I am in the process of…

I recently attended a business workshop related to Heating/Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical trades in Minneapolis related to creating an “On-boarding” curriculum trade specific related to the Technical side of our Industry. I took one of our Top Technicians to help develop this program. As the other owners in the room and I were sitting together sharing similar experiences we got into a conversation about what we are looking for when hiring people to our Teams. What was really interesting, technical skill set was not at the top of the list, it was ‘attitude’. I shared in my column last time talking about the word ‘mindset’, we are universally looking for the people who have a positive, can to do, want to learn and grow mindset. Again, universally, the people on our Team, who struggle to just say “Yes”, look at you with the ‘Deer in the Headlights, LOOK”, and are our hardest to help grow on our Team.

This continues to pop up in all aspects of my life. I was recently reading an article in a local magazine called “Montana Woman”. The author was sharing with a friend a story about her father when she was growing up. As her friend was listening, she chimes in and shares, “ Your Father told you to give up. My Father would have told me to take the Club nationally!”

Many years ago when I was in my 30’s I was reading an article and came across this statement, “ To be successful you have to fail.” And I got stuck on this, and read it over and over, finally I got past the comment and the next sentence was ‘Life Changing’ for me, “because without failure, you cannot learn how to be better next time.” But, if you let the failure get in the way of learning from this experience, you get stuck in the past..

I can tell the ‘TRUE’ colors of someone’s character in how they respond to defeat. When the going gets tough, do they pick themselves back up, have a “Stiff upper Lip”, and when in a Leadership Role, do they offer words of encouragement and gratefulness to the people they are leading? When a leader can do this, their true character shines through, that they are for the greater good for all, not just themselves.

As you are rethinking your “List” you are making as 2017 has arrived…to be successful, it has to be a commitment verse the statement “I should,” or someone says you should. “Be – Do – Have,” is building a brick at a time, no true silver bullet.

At Central I am committed to building a ‘growth mindset’, culture.. And when we arrive at your home, we are about finding the correct solution the first time. Whether you are in Kalispell, Whitefish, Bigfork, Columbia Falls or anywhere else in the Flathead Valley. . .As always, your Comfort is our Central concern, call 756-6656, for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs.

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